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In the wake of the two-year budget deal the former House Speaker John Boehner negotiated with the Obama White House, Congress still needs to enact appropriations legislation to keep the government funded after the current continuing resolution expires on Dec. 11. When asked at a Tuesday press briefing whether the Republican House will put policy riders on that appropriations bill, newly House Speaker Paul Ryan said that Congress has the power of the purse and expects to use it. […] First up is a highway funding bill: "We're opening up the process," Ryan said, with "lots of amendments considered by...

The U.S. national debt jumped $339 billion on Monday, the same day President Obama signed into law legislation suspending the debt ceiling. That legislation allowed the government to borrow as much as it wants above the $18.1 trillion debt ceiling that had been in place. The website that reports the exact tally of the debt said the U.S. government owed $18.153 trillion last Friday, and said that number surged to $18.492 on Monday. The increase reflects an increasingly common pattern that can be seen in the total U.S. debt level when the debt ceiling is reached.

From Mike Lee's Facebook: This is how it happens. Last night while you were sleeping the Senate voted to steal $150 billion dollars from the Social Security Trust Fund. I joined 34 of my colleagues in a vote to prevent this raid. I would like to thank Senator Rand Paul for leading the fight to protect to Social Security from the thieves in Washington, who seem to think that if they steal from the American people at night while they are sleeping that they will get away with it. I was proud to vote with Senator Paul on his point...

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I know Presidential candidate Rand Paul's campaign is failing but one thing he is good at and that is going after the left and right when it comes to fraud, waste and abuse by our government leaders. He's started a filibuster against the debt ceiling increase that will last until 1am ET Friday morning. He says, "then we will find out who the real conservatives are" I will be uploading clips throughout the day.

Six Texas Republican representatives joined with the eleven Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation to vote in favor of the bill to raise the debt ceiling. Nineteen Texas Republicans voted nay in attempting to block the measure. On a national level, 79 Republicans joined with all 187 Democrat members of the House to pass the measure back to the Senate. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX)64% voted in favor of the bill with the Democrats, according to GovTrack.us. He announced this week that he seeks to replace Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)58% as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Ryan is...

117 Wednesday, presumptive Speaker of the House Congressman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)58% vowed things will be different under his leadership. Ryan said, “This begins a new day in the House of Representatives. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)37% served with humility and distinction and we owe him a debt of gratitude. But tomorrow we are turning the page. We are not going to have a House that looked like it looks the last few years. We are going to move forward. We are going to unify. Our party has lost its vision and we are going to replace it with a vision....

It's not the ever elusive "grand bargain." But Washington may have solved almost all of its budget problems through the 2016 presidential election. Congressional leaders and the White House came to tentative terms on a major budget deal in the wee hours of Tuesday morning — one that could stave off many of the fiscal land mines remaining through next year's election and beyond. Its passage is far from certain, but it will most likely be the final act for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) before he leaves Congress at the end of the week and hands over the role...

Sen. Ted Cruz talks about the Debt Ceiling (video) Sen. Ted Cruz says Republican leadership should make sure it receives “meaningful concessions” in the upcoming fight over raising the debt ceiling. But he’s not holding his breath. “Unfortunately, Republican leadership approaches every battle preemptively surrendering saying we can get nothing,” Cruz tells The Daily Signal. The deadline to raise the debt ceiling is Nov. 3. President Barack Obama says he won’t negotiate on this issue but Cruz says that isn’t the history of debt ceiling fights. “The last 55 times Congress has raised the debt ceiling it has attached...

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has his work cut out for him in passing a bill to raise the $18.1 trillion debt ceiling. The lame-duck Speaker needs to win 30 Republican votes to lift the government’s borrowing limit, even if the entire House Democratic Caucus votes with him. Boehner was only able to pull 28 votes the last time the House approved a clean debt-ceiling increase — and one-third of those lawmakers have since left Congress. Now Boehner is even weaker politically, and he has little time to act. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has urged Congress to raise the debt limit...

House Speaker John Boehner is signaling that he’ll move must-do legislation to increase the government’s borrowing cap before he leaves Capitol Hill. The statutory cap on the government’s so-called debt limit needs to be raised by early November, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday, confirming a recent warning from the administration. Boehner himself has said that he doesn’t want to leave a “dirty barn” for his successor, comments that have been widely interpreted as a promise that he would try to at least clear away the debt limit issue rather than saddle the next speaker with the task. …

House Speaker John Boehner is looking to move a bill to lift the debt ceiling before he leaves Congress, a tactic aimed at helping his successor, according to multiple sources with knowledge of internal party planning. Timing has not been decided, but the Treasury Department says the nation's borrowing limit needs to be raised by Nov. 5, and Boehner (R-Ohio) would like to resolve the issue before a new speaker is sworn in. Boehner expects to step down Oct. 30. His office declined to comment for this story....

The debt ceiling issue is returning to the forefront in American politics, again threatening a government shutdown. Last time, the shutdown resulting in sequester for many agencies that suspended work for many government employees; a great deal of political theater dominated the news cycle; but ultimately, things returned to a basic normalcy. This time may be different, as a number of critical factors face Americans in 2015. Last week, Congress passed “procedural martial law” to address stop-gap spending as it faces the debt ceiling crisis again. Meanwhile, this quietly announced martial law forced a vote on bills the same day,...

Stocking Congress with progressive Republicans, who talk a conservative game but act in concert with progressive Democrats, is an excellent, ancient, tried-and-true strategy It’s the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of fall. It just keeps coming around. So does the Kabuki Theater in congress over the debt ceiling, which will ultimately be raised. The show that accompanies the process will be characterized by the usual irrational plot, appalling acting, extremely competent Democrat propaganda and not much benefit for the nation. Republicans know very well that the Democrat propaganda machine has already revved up and is snorting and pawing at the...

Many of us remember the histrionics on display by GOP members of Congress when they had to take positions and vote on hiking the country’s debt ceiling. Well, according to the following information, provided by someone who sounds very authentic, here is the legerdemain that went on in that closed door session of the uniparty in D.C. There are a number of details here that lead me to think this is a true account. You may certainly make up your own mind. The Congressman’s name and state are deleted to protect his identity. “That Tuesday, lunch began with our leadership...

While you were sleeping... The final debt figure for today will come out later this week, it’s expected to be a limit of about $18.2 trillion. But the government has some wiggle room for handling its debt situation while Congress considers whether and how to raise the debt ceiling, a process that could still take months to sort out. Most importantly, the Treasury Department can use “extraordinary measures” to cope with the debt, which are several tools the government has used before when up against its borrowing limit. For example, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress on Friday that as...

Among the many constitutional outrages President Barack Obama has perpetrated on the country is unilaterally amending legislation duly passed by Congress with a stroke of the pen. He's done it several times now with Obamacare alone, perhaps thinking that since the monstrous law has been dubbed with his name, he has the power to change its terms. The latest example is his decision to delay for three more years the penalty for employers not complying with the law. Now think about this. If Obama has the power to delay certain provisions of the law for three years, would his successors...

‘It’s a sad day in the history of the Senate,” Mitch McConnell bitterly announced. The minority leader wanted Americans to know, or at least to believe, that Republicans were outraged by what he called the Democratic majority’s “power grab” — detonation of the so-called nuclear option, exploding the minority’s ability to block presidential nominees. In truth, the GOP had not done much of anything to oppose Obama picks. Eric Holder, to take just one example, was confirmed by a whopping 75–21 margin — with 19 Republican yeas — despite the Mark Rich scandal, the FALN terrorist pardons, and a history...

A dozen members of the Texas congressional delegation reaped state retirement benefits while collecting their federal paychecks over the last two years — a much higher rate than other states’ lawmakers. Thirty-five percent of the 34-member delegation reported dipping into state pension funds in 2012 or 2011, according to recently filed financial disclosure forms. That is nearly twice the one-fifth of all members of Congress members who reported drawing public retirement benefits last year, according to an analysis by the National Journal released Friday. Texas Sen. John Cornyn dipped into three retirement funds in 2010 — more than any other...

The financial future of Estacado High School students looks much brighter. Senator, John Cornyn, was on hand for the showcase of a financial literacy program. The curriculum uses video, animations, gaming and social networking to teach students money management principles. Cornyn said the program, Ever-Fi, teaches the basics of how to have a productive and functional life. "Learning these tools will prepare students to go to the college of their choice and to make sure they don't get in trouble by incurring debt that they can't repay," he said.